


Stalemate

by aceactress



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Standalone, also there's only really one character in this wtf, i feel like this isn't really my best but it's not bad and it's finished. so, there's maybe one gory bit but it's quick so
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-09-01 06:08:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8612236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aceactress/pseuds/aceactress
Summary: A lone woman enters an empty building one morning. She's on a mission, and she won't be swayed from it.





	

The entrance hall was dark, still, and until she stepped through the doors, entirely empty. She never had been one to stand around idly when there was work to be done, certainly not to admire architecture, and this job was no exception. Still, she had to concede that lit up and bustling, the place may have been welcoming. Grand, even. He'd always had a flair for the dramatic and it seemed that had never changed. But now wasn't the time to dwell on the subject. There was, after all, work to be done. Work she'd prefer to finish quickly and quietly.

She crossed the hall at a brisk pace, footsteps clattering behind her. Various doors and entryways lined the walls, all of them tall and imposing in the low light and all of them passed by with barely a glance. She knew what she was looking for, and found her way to a nondescript door set into the far wall. If she hadn't been looking, and looking carefully, she doubted she would have been able to find it at all.

It was locked, as she knew it would be. She found the key – it took her a moment to retrieve the right one from the mess of a keyring she'd brought with her, but she found it all the same and it only took her another short moment to unlock the door. She heard the _click_ the tumblers made as they slid into place and turned the handle. It was satisfying, but she didn't let herself get too pleased with herself just yet. This was only the beginning, and there would be more locked doors ahead, she knew.

The nondescript door opened onto an equally nondescript hallway, one she was sure had been as carefully calculated to be as perfectly average as the door had been. Designed to escape notice, to pass right under the eyes of people like her. Of course, she amended, it didn't work on anyone _too_ much like her. Still, it was a clever idea, even if it wouldn't do him much good in the long run.

None of what she'd seen so far surprised her. She'd prepared well for this mission, and was certain that she would find exactly what she expected to find exactly where she expected to find it. If she didn't, she was sure she'd make do, but there were certain people back at headquarters she would have strong words with. She wasn't fond of surprises. She certainly wasn't fond of surprises after the amount of detailed, downright meticulous planning she'd put into this job. And, of course, there was the fact that she had only one chance at this and she absolutely could not fail. It was too important for that. But she was certain she wouldn't. Everything was going to go according to plan.

Yes, yes, of course it would. It had to.

She made her way down the hallway, ignoring several other doors almost identical to the first. They were full of interesting things, she was sure, but they had nothing to do with her job today. She would take a left turn up ahead, followed by a right turn several meters afterwards. And then there would be a door – the third one down the hall, after the second turn – and it, too, would be locked. She would find the right key, unlock it, and continue down a similar hallway.

Exactly as planned, she took the turns, came to the door, unlocked it, and continued. She continued for a considerable amount of time before she had to really pay attention to anything again. She didn't get ahead of herself and completely ignore her surroundings, but there was nothing important to notice. She kept making her way through the network of hallways and doors, following the directions she'd gone over so many times.

On a normal day, she was sure, getting this far would have been more difficult. She would have been noticed, if not recognized for who she was, and certainly detained. But today the building was almost empty - by her arrangement - and she wouldn't have to worry about coming across anyone else for a while. Her walk through the building continued at the same steady, brisk pace. She had given herself plenty of time, but there was no use _wasting_ it. Besides, she really did want to get out of there as soon as she could. The whole building was an unpleasant reminder, of... things she didn't need to think about at the moment.

_No. Stop._ She was getting too distracted, thinking about things that had nothing to do with the mission. She cleared her mind and kept walking.

For the most part the trip was straightforward. She came to a few more doors, a few more turns and forks in the repetitive corridors and navigated with ease. Each door she came to was locked, and she imagined every door she passed was as well. It seemed like overkill, even for him, and when she came to the first flight of stairs she was almost surprised there wasn't a locked door in her way. She ascended to the first landing, turned, and looked ahead of her.

Ah. He'd had the door put at the _top._

After a small sigh, the first voluntary sound she'd made since her arrival, she unlocked this door too and stepped through. It had gotten easier to find they key she needed for each door – what was that old phrase? Practice makes perfect. Her mother used to tell them that when they were children. Well, she had had plenty of practice, and she hoped she was as close to perfect as she could be.

She was getting closer to her final destination. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there, but she'd come far enough that surely there couldn't be too much further for her to go. Besides, she was running out of keys, and when she ran out of keys she'd run out of doors. And then she'd be there.

She kept walking.

Another stairwell, another hallway, several more locked doors. He was an interesting one, and she imagined she was the only one left alive who knew just how much so. She reflected on this as the scenery, if it could really be called scenery, blended together. The only thing keeping intruders out of this inner sanctum was a single door with a standard lock, but after that there were more and more doors, each locked, each in an arbitrary place. Paranoid, yes, but still prideful. As if a security system as simple as that would really keep her out. She had always told him that hubris would be his downfall, and here they were.

Well, no, that wasn't entirely fair, was it? There had been security cameras, too, and alarms, but they had all been disarmed or set to loop footage, which would at least keep him from pinpointing her exact location for a while yet. In the end, it didn't matter if he noticed or not. It was already too late.

She kept walking.

Eventually she was met with another staircase, one without a door at either end. It was just as well. She'd run out of keys, and it seemed unlikely he would reuse them if he was already going to all the trouble of putting locked doors everywhere.

She stopped. That very action struck her as odd. She couldn't think of a logical reason to hesitate, and it puzzled her. It _surprised_ her. She didn't like it. It couldn't be an attack of conscience, either, because she knew what she came here to do was right. It had to be done, and it had to be done by her. It was _right._

Brushing off the moment as nothing to worry about, she kept walking. And when she came to the doors, she couldn't possibly have missed them.

They were a massive, ornate set of double doors, carved out of some rich, dark wood she didn't care to identify. At least as grand as the entrance hall, and probably at least as expensive. She still had an eye for these things, some small remnant of her upbringing that stuck to her like glue. It wasn't important. What was important was that these doors wouldn't be locked, unlike the rest. She knew because she'd been told by her informants, but she hadn't needed them to. There was no way his pride would have allowed him to put locks on his office doors. He must have been absolutely certain that no one could ever get there. How wrong he was.

She stopped again, just in front of the doors. The hesitation was doing her no favours, but she needed a moment to clear her head again. This was getting ridiculous – she'd been through this dozens of times. She knew exactly what she was going to do, and she knew she would be able to. Still, she stopped.

She had been alone the entire time she'd been here, interrupted by no one, and that was no coincidence. Nor was it a coincidence that the only other living soul in the building was behind those doors. It had taken months and a great deal of resources, and she would have gone for a simpler plan if it had been possible, but the arrangements had been made. The date had been set, and she made sure that everyone meant to be in the building today had been steered away or discreetly disposed of.

He would know by now something was wrong, probably know she was here. He would have prepared himself accordingly, which would make things more difficult. But she would be fine. She had had far longer to prepare, and she had _right_ on her side, didn't she?

Yes, yes, of course she did. There had been far too much suffering caused by this, too many innocent people hurt and killed. The feud wasn't just between the two of them anymore - they'd dragged hundreds of thousands of people into it. They weren't children any more. They had grown up into people she wished neither of them had ever become, and now she had to put an end to it.

She had gone over it a hundred times in the years before, what she would do when she finally got to him. She would walk right up to him, and without saying a word she would pull the knife through the flesh of her brother's throat until the blade found his spine. It would be messy, and she would have to get close, but at least she'd be certain he'd be dead. Perhaps then she could finally rest.

Yes, that was what she would do. She knew she had to. And yet she didn't reach for the doorknob, didn't step forward, didn't move. She stood still, feeling the weight of the keyring on one hip and the knife on another, and contemplated why.

Perhaps because he was expecting her? She thought for sure he would be. He'd be ready, and she already knew it would make this harder to do. He could even be standing just behind the door, waiting, as unlikely as she thought that was. And there was something else. Her heartbeat seemed so much louder now. She couldn't identify it exactly, but there was a small part in the back of her mind that wanted her to stop here, turn back. A small, emotional part. He'd done terrible things, and his death would leave the world no poorer, she was sure. And yet... And yet...

She knew now neither of them was going to leave completely unscathed. There would be a showdown eventually, and this nightmare would finally end. For better or for worse.

But first, one of them would have to open that door.

 


End file.
